Surface washer



June 8 1926.

F. G. STONE SURFACE WASHER iled Sept. 21, 1 25 4 A 7 my 04263 Patented June 8, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,587,873 rarest OFFICE.

FRED G. STONE, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIG-NOR TO STONE SURFACE WASHER. COMPANY, INC., OF NORTH ANDOVEBI, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

This application is acontinuation in part of my application for Letters Patent for an improvement in surface washers, filed June 1, 1925, Serial No. 3 1,817.

One object of this invention is to provide a device, adapted to be held by one of the hands of the user, and including a waterconducting receiving head having a waterdelivering rose head against which a detached applicator, such as a sponge, may be releasably confined by the operating hand, for manipulation on a surface to be washed, the applicator being-supplied with water by the rose head, and a water-conducting neck connecting the heads and formed to bear on fingers of an operating hand, the arrange ment being such that the receiving head is oifset inwardly from flexed fingers of the operating hand, and is free from liability to have injurious contact with a surface portion of a body being washed.

Another object is to enable the waterreceiving head to project a stream of water over the back of the operating hand, without contact with the latter, and cause the ject to impinge directly on a portion of the surface being washed, at a point near the portion of a surface portion to which the applicator is applied.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds. 1

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

' Figure 1 is a side view, showing a washer embodying the invention, and an applicator associated therewith, the washer and applicator being held by an operating hand in operative relation to a surface to be washed.

Figure 2 is an end view, omitting the applicator.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on line 44: of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, omitting the water-delivering nozzle portion hereinafter described of the receiving head.

Figure 6 is'a perspective view, showing a modification.

Figure 7 shows in elevation the modification shown by Figure 6.

Figure 8 1s a vlew similar to F gure 1, showing a differently formed connectlng neck.

Application fileii septemher sun-sacs WASHER.

21, 1925. Serial No. 57,622..

Figure 9 is an end view, showing the neck formed as in Figure 8.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

12 designates a water-receiving head having means for connection with a source of water supply, said means preferably including a nipple 13, adapted to engage a flexible hose 1 1. The head 12 is preferably provided with a nipple portion 15, closed at its outer end and provided with an outlet 16, adapted to deliver a fan-shaped jet 17 and cause its impingement on a surface 18 to be washed.

Extending laterally from the head is a water-conducting neck, formed to bear on fingers 19 of an operating hand. Said neck preferably includes an annular body member 20, integral with the head and provided with an annular groove 21, and a separately formed annular groove-closing member 22, having a water-tight connection, formed by solder or otherwise, with the body member, said groove and closing member forming an annular duct extending through the neck and communicating by a passage 23, with the bore of the head 12, as shown by Fig ure 3.

The body portion 20 has a finger-receiving opening 24, and its wall is preferably oblong-in cross section and tapered as shown by Figure 4, so that it is adapted to conform to the diverging spaces between the fingers. V

A water-delivering rose head is carried by the neck and is spaced thereby from the head, so that the fingers may be interposed between the head and the nozzle. In this embodiment of the invention the rose head includes a discoidal inner member 25, integral with the neck and communicating with the neck duct by a passage 26, and a separately formed discoidal water-delivering outer member 27, having a water-tight connection with the member 25, formed by solder or otherwise. The members and 27 are dished, so that a water-receiving chamber'is formed between them. The inner member 25forms a rest for the inner portions of the fingers and the forward portion of the palm of the operating hand, as indicated by Figure 1. The innermember 25 has a substantially circular margin, the

diameter of which is such that the tips of I the fingers may be flexed across the margin and cooperate with the thumb, also flexed across the fniargin, in grasping a "detached applicator 29, and releas'ably confining it on the outer member 27,the applicator being gs'uppue alumna ensign orifices so in sheet of cheesecloth, or a body of anyo'ther suitable nature, adapted to conduct water from the rose head to the surface 18. The applicator may therefore be discarded, after it is rendered unfit forv further use, and a fresh one may be substituted for it, there being no connectionbetween the applicator and the rose head other than that-provided by the operating hand.

The unobstructed circular margin o'fthe rose head surrounds and projects outward from the portion of the neck which joins the rose head. Themajor axes of. the receivand: rose; heads are subst antia'llyiparallel with each other, andsaid heads are spaced apart hy the neck *sufliciently "to :permit the insertion of portions of the operating hand therebetween. The neck is -:formed to bear on side surfaces of the fingers, while the backof the rose-head is formedto bear on the forwardportion of the :palm and on inner surfaces of the fingers adjacentto the palm. The unobstructed margin of the rose head .perinits inward fiexure of the outer portions of the fingersandofthe 'thumb,'as shown by Figure 1. The neckisjoined to the outer end portion of the receiving head .12, so that when the washer is operatively 'held, the recei-Ving heacl is offset inwardly from the outer portions of the flexed'fingers andisdocated in a nominterfering position relative to a body being washed,-as shown by Figure 1. This is true, generally speaking, whet-her the receiving head 12 is provided with the nozzle portion 15, asshown by Figures 1 and 3, -or is-not; provided with said :portion, 'as sho'wn by Figure 5.

VVhen the washer is used on a reentrant or recessed surface,-there maybe some-liability of contact between theouter end portion of the receivingh'eadandarportionof --said surface, ,notyexisting when the/surface is substantially flat. *I therefore provide the nozzle portion-15 with acap 32, covering theextern-al surfaces of the nozzlelp'on ti-o'n and-composed of soft rubber, sothat it -constitutes a buffer adapted to prevent injurious contactofthe ndzzl'e portion with a surface-being washed. Saidcap is adapted to befiturned on the nozzle portion and is provided with ah outlet--33, formed like the outlet :16, and ad'aptedt'o register therewith when the cap isturnedto"oneposition, the

cap, when turned to "another position, closing the outlet 16.

so that it does not extend the operating hand. neck, designated by 20 In practice, an intermediate finger as the "secend finger of the operating handmay be inserted in the opening 24, the adjacent fingers bearing on the external surfaces of the neck, as shown by dottedlinesin Figure 4:,

so -that' the intermediate and "adj aent fingers bear simultaneously on the neck and prevent 'a'turning movement of the washer in the hand.

As shown by Figure 5, the nozzle portion 25 may be omitted, so that the head 12 communicates only with the neck duct. The device-shown by Figure 5, is useful as a bath-room appliance, enabling the user to apply the applicator to body surfaces and to surfaces of a bath-tub to clean. the latter.

The illustrated form of 7 the receiving head 12, the body member 20 ofthe neck,

the groove 21, and the inner member 25 of the rose head, is such that these parts may be formed as a single integral die casting, the passages 23 and 26 bein'g formed by drilling, before the closing member 22 and the outer member 27 of the rose head are applied. I s

The metal employed may be aluminum, and the annular closing member 22and the outer rose head "member 27 may be of'the same metal,'and may be secured by aluminum solder forming.\'va-ter-tigl1t joints.

The invention may be otherwise embodied, for example, as shown by Figures 6 and 7, in which the receiving head is composed of a circular portion 35, constituting the outer end of the headyand a tubular portion 37, constituting the inner end of the head, and adapted to engage a base. The portion 35 is provided at one side with ajet-emitting outlet 36. The water-conducting neck 38 connecting the receiving head with the inner member 39 of the rose head, may be straight and oblong in cross section, and formed to be interposed betweenjonly two fingers of the operating hand; The outer member 40 of the rose head may bese'cur ed to the inner member 39, in any suitable way.

The water-conducting neck maybe otherwise formed, as shown by Figures-9 and 10, between fingers of In these figures the .is a water conductmg loop or bridge forming a portion of the Wall of an opening 21", adaptedt'o receive all of the fingers of the operating handftheopeiiing being completed by the inner m'ember 25 of -the rose head.

. While, ashereinbefore described, the delivery head is shown as having the form of a rose head, and this particular form is a preferable'onait will-be evident that the invention is not necessarily limited to-making the delivery head of this exact form, that is circular-in outline. -Many ofthe advantages of the improved article will be attained if the delivery head is of slightly different form from that illustrated, it only being necessary that such head shall provide a chamber having a delivering face adapted to suitably support the applicator and supply water thereto.

I claim:

1. A surface washer comprising a waterconducting receiving head, a water-delivering head, and a water-conducting neck, eX- tending substantially at right angles to the plane of the delivering head, directly con rnectin the heads and s acin the same apart, the neck and delivering head being formed to be grasped by an operating hand and permit the flexure of fingers and the thumb across the delivering face of said head to confine a detached applicator thereon, the arrangement being such that the receiving head is ofiset inwardly from the outer portions of the flexed fingers when the washer is in use, so that said head is in a non-interfering position relative to the surface to which the applicator is applied, said receiving head including an outwardly directed nozzle adapted to emit-a jet of water beside the back of the operating hand with out contact therewith.

2. A surface washer as specified by claim 1, the receiving head including an outwardly directed nozzle adapted to emit a jet of water beside the back of the operating hand without contact therewith, and provided with a soft rubber cap rotatable on the nozzle and constituting a buffer and a valve whereby the nozzle may be opened and closed.

3. A three-piece surface washer comprising a water-conducting receiving head of cast metal; a water-conducting neck composed of a grooved body member, cast integral with the receiving head, and a separately formed outer member covering the groove and having a water-tight connection with the body member; and a delivering head composed of a back member, cast in tegral with the body member of the neck, and a separately formed perforated front member having a water-tight connection with the back member and forming therewith a water chamber communicating with the neck, the receiving head, the body member of the neck, and the back member of the delivering head, constituting one of the pieces, while the outer members of the neck and delivering head constitute the other pieces.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

FRED G. STONE. 

